is a
fictional character who first appeared in the 1989
arcade beat-em-up
The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
''
Final Fight'' by
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
. Guy, along with other ''
Final Fight'' series characters, has also been a recurring
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
in the ''
Street Fighter''
fighting game
A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
series since ''
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'' in 1995. Guy is a crimson-clad
ninpō
, sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some tradit ...
master of
Japanese descent who has been taught the form of
ninjutsu. The kanji, 武神, written on Guy's top literally translates to "God of War".
Guy was excluded from the
SNES version of the game, but a special version replacing Cody with Guy was also released. While he is not a playable character in the sequel ''
Final Fight 2'', Guy factors into the storyline as his girlfriend and her father are captured. Guy returned to the ''Final Fight'' series as selectable character in ''
Final Fight 3
''Final Fight 3'', released in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat 'em up by Capcom originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It is the second sequel to ''Final Fight'' released for the Super NES, following ''Fina ...
''. He also appears in ''
Final Fight: Streetwise'', but is not playable in the game's story mode. His sister-in-law is
Maki Genryusai
, more commonly known simply as , is a fictional character in the ''Final Fight'' and ''Street Fighter'' video game series by Capcom. She has originally appeared in 1993 beat 'em up game ''Final Fight 2'' as a younger sister of Guy's fiancée and ...
, who was introduced as one of the protagonists of ''Final Fight 2''.
The character has been well received, often being named to various lists of top ''Street Fighter'' characters. His popularity with fans has resulted in Capcom adding him to many of its newer fighting games.
Appearances
In video games
''Final Fight''
Guy is one of three playable characters, along with
Cody and
Mike Haggar, in the original arcade version of ''Final Fight'', released for the
arcades by
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
in 1989. In the backstory of the original ''Final Fight'', Guy is established to be the 39th successor of the Bushin-style Ninpo. He aides his friend
Cody as well as Metro City Mayor
Mike Haggar in rescuing Jessica, who is Haggar's daughter and Cody's girlfriend, from the Mad Gear gang.
Due to space constraint, Guy was initially omitted from the
SNES port of the game, with Cody and Haggar being the only playable characters in that version. Capcom later produced a second SNES version titled ''
Final Fight Guy
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up video game produced by Capcom. Originally released as an arcade game in 1989, it was the seventh title released for the CP System hardware. Set in the fictional Metro City, the game lets the player control one of t ...
'', which replaced Cody's character with that of Guy (who is the only character featured in the game's cover art). Later versions of the game such as ''Final Fight CD'' for
Sega CD and ''Final Fight One'' for the
Game Boy Advance would include all three characters. Capcom also produced an
NES game titled ''
Mighty Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It is a spinoff of Capcom's 1989 arcade game ''Final Fight'', which was previously ported to the Super NES. Unlike the CP System arcade classic a ...
'', a parody of the original ''Final Fight'' which features all three characters.
Capcom later released ''
Final Fight 2'' in 1993, a sequel created specifically for the SNES. In this installment, Guy's
sensei, Genryusai and his daughter Rena (Guy's fiancee), are kidnapped by the new incarnation of Mad Gear. In the game's story, Guy is off on a training mission and is unable to rescue his fiancee and master. Instead, the game features Guy's sister-in-law,
Maki Genryusai
, more commonly known simply as , is a fictional character in the ''Final Fight'' and ''Street Fighter'' video game series by Capcom. She has originally appeared in 1993 beat 'em up game ''Final Fight 2'' as a younger sister of Guy's fiancée and ...
, who has also been trained in the same fighting style, and Carlos Miyamoto, a South American swordsman. Guy only makes an appearance in the end of the game, although the game does feature power-up icons shaped after his character.
In ''
Final Fight 3
''Final Fight 3'', released in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat 'em up by Capcom originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It is the second sequel to ''Final Fight'' released for the Super NES, following ''Fina ...
'', released in 1995, Guy finally returns to
Metro City and teams up with Haggar to rid Metro City of the Skull Cross gang, the latest gang to try to pick up where Mad Gear had left off. They are joined by Metro City SCU officer Lucia Morgan and former gang member who double crossed the gang, Dean (who wanted revenge when Skull Cross murdered his family). The four succeed, and are able to rid Metro City of the criminals. Metro City is left in shambles, but Guy does not seem to care, and leaves that to Haggar.
In 1998, Guy was featured in ''
Final Fight Revenge'', the American-produced fighting game for the arcades and
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
. In 2006, the second American-produced ''Final Fight'' sequel, ''
Final Fight: Streetwise'', a reimagined Guy's character as a Japanese crime lord in the Japan Town district of Metro City.
''Street Fighter''
When Capcom produced the original ''
Street Fighter Alpha
''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D arcade fighting game by Capcom originally released in 1995 for the CP System II hardware. It was the first all new ''Street Fighter'' game p ...
'' in 1995, Guy would be one of two ''Final Fight'' characters to be included in the game along with the game's second stage boss
Sodom
Sodom may refer to:
Places Historic
* Sodom and Gomorrah, cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis
United States
* Sodom, Kentucky, a ghost town
* Sodom, New York, a hamlet
* Sodom, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Sodom, West Virginia, an ...
. He was selected for inclusion because of his high popularity at the time. Guy and Sodom would be joined by
Rolento in 1996's ''
Street Fighter Alpha 2'' and by Cody in 1998's ''
Street Fighter Alpha 3'', followed by Maki's appearance in the portable versions of ''Alpha 3''. In the ''Alpha'' games, Guy's Bushin predecessor is revealed to be a man named Zeku, who would appear in Guy's ending in ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'' to test Guy for his successor-ship. Zeku's presence in the game contradicts ''Final Fight 2'', which identifies Genryusai as Guy's sensei, as designers of the ''Alpha'' games did not take into account the SNES ''Final Fight'' sequels when developing the games. Zeku was mentioned once again in Guy's bio in ''Street Fighter Alpha 3''.
In ''
Street Fighter IV'', Guy was one of the new characters added in ''
Super Street Fighter IV''. In his ending, he is shown rescuing an unconscious
Rose from Bison. In Rose's ending it is hinted that he might be the only one powerful enough to stop Bison (though in ''
Street Fighter V'', Bison is destroyed once and for all by Ryu), and in Cody's ending Guy is shown trying to persuade him to come back on the right side of the law. Guy is also the one who threw the
kunai in
Fei Long's ending in the original ''Street Fighter IV'', since
Ibuki has no involvement with S.I.N.
Crossover games
Guy is as a playable character in ''
Capcom Fighting Jam
, released in the US as ''Capcom Fighting Evolution'', is a 2004 head-to-head fighting game from Capcom. It was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Namco System 246 hardware and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Th ...
'', a crossover fighting game also featuring characters from ''
Darkstalkers'' and ''
Red Earth''. Guy is a playable character in the Japan-only tactical role-playing game ''
Namco × Capcom'', in which he is paired with Sho (Ginzu) from ''
Captain Commando'' as a single unit, the in-game story depicting Sho as his future Bushin-ryu successor. He also appears as a playable character via DLC (actually contained on the game disc) in the ''
Tekken
is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The ...
'' and ''Street Fighter'' series' crossover fighting game ''
Street Fighter X Tekken
(pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom and released in March 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in May for Microsoft Windows and in October for the PlayStation Vita. The game feature ...
'', in which also ''Tekkens
Raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
can be dressed in Guy's costume.
In other media
Guy appears in the American ''
Street Fighter'' animated series in an episode titled "Final Fight", which adapts the plot of its namesake. In this episode, Guy and Cody befriend Ryu and
Ken, who aid them in fighting the Mad Gear Gang to save Jessica. He also makes an appearance in ''
Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation'' as one of the warriors who have agreed to accompany Ryu, Ken and
Chun-Li to Professor Sadler's base and rescue Shun, Ryu's alleged brother. As the fighters battle each other outside Sadler's base to demonstrate their skills, Guy fights Dhalsim. When Sadler's true intentions are revealed, Guy and the other fighters are freed by Ken and Chun-Li.
Guy makes an appearance in
UDON's ''Street Fighter II Turbo'' comic, in which he was given an invitation to fight in the Japanese branch of the Street Fighter Tournament by
M. Bison
M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
. Dan tries to take Guy's invitation from him by force, yet is quickly defeated. At night, Dan breaks into Guy's house and steals his invitation; Guy witnesses the whole event, but decides to give Dan a chance, as he was not planning on joining the competition in the first place. Guy also appears in the manga adaptation of ''Street Fighter Alpha'' by Masahiko Nakahira, where he is depicted as a well-known
vigilante ninja credited with bringing an end to several criminal organisations. Guy disguised himself as a member of Shadaloo to face M. Bison, but he is forced to reveal his identity when
Vega tries to kill both Adon and a possessed
Ryu. After making quick work of Vega, Guy kicks several oil drums at Ryu (a nod to the ''Final Fight'' series), then proceeds to fight Ryu. Due to Guy's superior speed and training to fight multiple enemies at once, Guy is able to block every attack from Ryu's
Shun Goku Satsu and defeat him. He is last seen watching over the battle between Ryu and Sagat.
Design and gameplay
Guy's character was created and originally designed by
Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, who felt that it was a Capcom company tradition to often feature a ninja character, even in the Western-themed game ''
Gun.Smoke
is a 1985 vertical scrolling run-and-gun shooter arcade game produced by Capcom and designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. A Western-themed game, ''Gun.Smoke'' centers on a character named Billy Bob, a bounty hunter going after the criminals of the ...
''. His work-in-progress name was simply "Ninja", inspired by the actor
Sho Kosugi who often played ninja characters during the 1980s. According to Capcom's Tatsuya Minami, Guy was included in ''Street Fighter'' because he was extremely popular and easy to translate to the one-on-one fighting genre.
Each of the three fighters of the original ''Final Fight'' have their own unique characteristics, with Guy being the fastest of the three due to his
ninjutsu skills. One of his most novel techniques in the game is the "Off-the-Wall Kick" which allows Guy to bounce off the wall with a jump kick. He wears the kanji embroidered into his
shinobi shozoku
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in History of Japan#Feudal Japan, feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, Infiltration tactics, infiltration, Military deception, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and thei ...
. His speech and mannerisms are characterized by a stiff formality. In ''Street Fighter Alpha'', Guy's character design was altered slightly, with his
jika-tabi replaced by sneakers (a change that was retained when Guy was brought back into the ''Final Fight'' series in ''Final Fight 3''), although his fighting style mimics that of his ''Final Fight'' counterpart. Guy's new design would be used in ''Final Fight 3'' and, along with Cody's ''Street Fighter Alpha'' rendition, is also hidden characters in ''Final Fight One'' (''Final Fight'' for the
Game Boy).
Guy's fighting style can be described as a fusion of traditional ninjutsu with modern street brawling, and is also the only ''Final Fight'' character in the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' series not to use a weapon (though he can throw a close-ranged burst of ki and shuriken in ''Final Fight 3'' and ''Final Fight Revenge'' respectively). In ''Final Fight 3'' and ''Namco × Capcom'', Guy had in his repertoire a "fireball" style attack, although it dissipates a short distance from his palm. According to ''Street Fighter IV'' developer Taisaku Okada,
Guy is a character that does not use "ki" and thus has no use for fireballs or projectiles. In ''Namco × Capcom'', he participates in the Multiple Assault attacks that involve all of the
Commando Team.
In ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', Guy was one of the few characters who could perform chain combos after they were removed. According to ''
Expert Gamer'', the player using Guy in ''Alpha 3'' should play defensively, as Guy takes a lot of damage when he is hit, and to rely on Guy's speed and varied attacks. In a guide to ''
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition'',
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
stated that "Guy is a frantic fighter. As he is without a fireball and effective zoning tools, he requires very aggressive, close-up fighting where he can land quick combos to chew into the opponent's health. This constantly forward-moving action makes Guy vulnerable to counter hits, but he's got enough variety in his tool set to make it work." According to
MTV Multiplayer
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, similar to
Ibuki, "Guy requires an expert. His punches and kicks, while dazzling and lengthy, require precision. They also require an eye for patterns and combination opportunities, so stay frosty. Without those things in mind, you'll find Guy to be nothing more than a poor but fast damage dealer."
Reception
Since his debut in 1989, Guy became a popular character in the fighting game fandom. In the Japanese coin-operated video game magazine ''Gamest'', Guy was ranked second in the top characters of the year poll for 1990 (with Cody at seventh,
Poison
Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
at 26th, Sodom at 33rd, and Jessica at 40th)
and ranked at 26th place in the same poll for 1996.
In 2001, an editor of
GameSpot named Guy as his personal favourite and called him "the best character in the world". In 2002, Guy was voted the 16th most popular out of 85 ''Street Fighter'' characters in Capcom's own poll for the 15th anniversary of ''
Street Fighter''.
IGN ranked Guy 24th in their top ''Street Fighter'' characters list in 2009, while
UGO.com ranked him 30th on a similar list in 2010, and ''
The Guardian'' gave him the high seventh place in the list compiled by Ryan Hart, the UK's top ''SF'' player. In 2012, ''
Complex'' ranked him as the seventh swiftest ninja in games. In a 2018 worldwide poll by Capcom, Guy was voted 20th most popular ''Street Fighter'' character (out of 109).
Guy also became often one of the characters most requested to be added to the Capcom games' characters rosters. On the official Capcom forums, he was most requested ''Final Fight'' character to be added to the roster of ''Street Fighter IV'', as well as the second most requested character overall to be added to the game. In 2009,
GamesRadar
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
too included him in the list of 12 fighters they would like to see in ''Super Street Fighter IV''. According to the game's developers Takashi Tsukamoto and Taisaku Okada, they have "compiled a list of characters that players wanted to see in the game
ndGuy was one of the names on the first list" in both Japan and America ("he's pretty popular overseas as well") and the development team "also wanted to get Guy in the game".
He also ranked 10th on the list of top 55 most requested ''
Marvel vs. Capcom 3''
DLC characters in a poll by
Nico Nico Douga in 2010. In the English-language survey by
Namco, Guy was less popular than in Japan and was the 23rd most requested ''Street Fighter'' side character to be added to the roster of ''
Tekken X Street Fighter
(pronounced "Tekken Cross Street Fighter") is a crossover fighting game that was being developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was supposed to cross the universes of Namco's ''Tekken'' and Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' into one game, creating ...
''.
He also entered the ''
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition'' as the first beat-'em-up game character to be included in a 2D fighting game.
See also
*
Ninja in popular culture
References
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Guy (''Final Fight'')
Capcom protagonists
Characters designed by Akira Yasuda
Fictional Japanese American people
Fictional Japanese people in video games
Fictional gangsters
Fictional immigrants to the United States
Fictional ninja
Fictional Ninjutsu practitioners
Fictional vegan and vegetarian characters
Final Fight characters
Male characters in video games
Ninja characters in video games
Street Fighter characters
Video game characters based on real people
Video game characters introduced in 1989
Vigilante characters in video games